Dublin, We've Hardly Seen You!

We all slept hard last night and awoke (mostly) refreshed.  After a big breakfast (thank goodness for having a rented flat where we can eat our own food and not have to be all on top of each other), we hit the road.  Our path to Trinity College and the Book of Kells took us past St. Stephen's Green (a neat little walled park) and along Grafton Street, one of the bigger shopping districts in Dublin.  It was interesting, being Sunday, many (really most) of the shops and restaurants were closed.  Well done Dublin!


Upon arrival at Trinity College, we discovered the queue (we're in the UK!) for the Book of Kells was huge.  Cyndie talked to a docent and found out that Sunday morning is THE biggest tourism day for the Book of Kells.  Fortunately (yay me), we had pre-bought tickets and were able to skip the 45 minute line.  Inside, we learned a lot about book making and the illuminated manuscripts of the early Medieval era.  We also visited the Trinity College library which, for a family who loves books, was really cool!





Next we meandered our way back toward the Dublin Castle.  Our journey took us by one Dublin's large eatery/pub districts.  Cyndie was really excited to have lunch in the Temple Bar, one of the iconic buildings in Dublin.  We crowded in to a small table right up front near the small band (guitar, banjo, accordion), and enjoyed some sandwiches and music.  It was also really cool to enjoy some very old architecture in the historic buildings of Dublin.









At the Dublin castle we learned a smattering of the history of Ireland (which was not independent from Britain until 1922).  The State Apartments (think the glamorous public rooms of the White House) were closed due to a government reception.  We were, however, able to tour the Medieval foundations of the castle and learned more about the history of Dublin (heavily Viking influenced, as well as Celtic, English, and Anglo-Norman).





We had hoped to go by St. Michan's Church, as we had heard that the catacombs there had actual mummified bodies in their crypt tour.  Unfortunately, it was closed for the day (aside from their morning service).





Instead, we headed for the Guinness Storehouse.  This is the original Guinness brewery, were all Guinness in Ireland was brewed until 1988.  It still produces some of their local beer, and has a museum type tour which tells about brewing Guinness as well as the history of the company.  Of course, it had a tasting (on a 7th floor bar which had a 360 degree view of Dublin).  We also grabbed a picture in front of the famed St. James' gate.









We finally headed home, tired and with sore feet.  We grabbed some Indian takeout for dinner, and have started packing up as we head out for the driving portion of our Irish adventure tomorrow morning.

Lessons Learned today:

• Almost all of non-tourist Dublin is closed on Sundays.
• All the little take out places (Kebab, Indian, Chinese, pizza, etc) are open LATE (4p - 4a).
• Pre-buying tickets to tourist spots is a great idea.

Looking forward to tomorrow:

• Kissing the Blarney Stone!
• Staying in our first Irish Bed & Breakfast.